This review of the Russian health system was undertaken at the request of the Council of the OECD within the context of the request by the Russian authorities to accede to the Organisation. Thus, this study forms part of a broader effort to assess the coherence of policies of the Russian Federation with those of OECD member countries. The development of health outcomes in the Russian Federation has contrasted sharply with developments in the OECD area over the last quarter of a century. This report follows on the OECD Reviews of the Health Systems of Korea (2003), Mexico (2005), Finland (2005), Switzerland (2006 and 2011) and Turkey (2008).
The review assesses the institutional arrangements and the performance of the Russian health system. As with earlier reviews of health care systems, performance is assessed on a range of criteria: access to health care services of high quality; the degree of insurance coverage for health care costs; the fiscal/financial sustainability of the health care system; and the overall efficiency with which health care services are produced and provided. In addressing these issues, the report aims at furthering the debate on health reforms in the Russian Federation through a review of the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and an evaluation of alternative paths of reform drawing, where relevant, on the experience of other countries.
The study benefited from a mission to the Russian Federation, in the course of which discussions were held with federal and regional government health policy makers as well and a range of experts from public, semi-public and private groups and other international organisations such as the World Bank. The OECD would like to thank, collectively, the many people who provided background information for this study. Particular thanks go to the Ministry of Health and Social Development for their support in financing the study and in providing the detailed comments on some of the more recent reforms. In a context where most of the documentary evidence is not in English, the health-system reports by the European Observatory were a particularly helpful source of information.
